Money’s Influence In American Society Essay, Research Paper

The driving force behind American society is money. People plan their lives around it, and it plans out people?s lives. Someone is considered to be successful, not by how hard he works or by how happy he is, but by how much money he has made. Americans lust over it so greatly that most criminal actions are committed in an attempt to get more of it. The captivating beauty of cupidity determines the course of people?s lives, shapes what companies produce, and decides who is going to be the next president.

The majority of people in America spend their entire lives attempting to get their hands on as much money as possible. This influences what people do for work, and how they live their family lives. More and more people are going into engineering and computer related jobs because they know that these are the jobs that are paying well at the moment. If a person is working at one company, and a job opens up at another that has a higher salary, or more stock options, chances are that person will send his resume out and try to get the job that will give him the most money. Also, couples will tend to be hesitant in having kids if they do not think that they will be able to provide for them. They will wait a few years until they have a stable income, or a nest egg to draw off of. Americans never make major decisions without first figuring out how it will affect them in terms of monetary value.

On a larger scale, companies are created with the intent of doing one thing, and that is making money. In order to get started, a company needs funding to create a product and get it into a market where it will hopefully return profits. To get this funding, companies turn to investors. These are people who already have money, but who want to make more by sponsoring a business that will be successful. It is the company?s duty to convince the investors that their product is the one that will achieve this goal. No one is going to invest in a product that no one is going to want, so undesirable products, or one?s that won?t sell, will never leave the drawing board. It is in this manner, that money regulates what products are to be produced and which ones are to be left on the drawing board.

Money also plays an important role in deciding who becomes president. During the Great Depression, the economy was slow, people were out of work, and money was scarce. The president at that time, Truman, was blamed for this recession even though it was not his fault. As a result, the people voted him out of office after serving one term and voted in Franklin Roosevelt, FDR. FDR started various programs that had the effect of getting money out to the general population, and because of this was elected to office four terms in a row. The economy soared to a rise during his presidency, and now FDR has become known as one of the greatest presidents America has ever had, while Truman has become one of the most hated. A more recent example of this is George Bush. The economy experienced a recession during his presidency, and money was not getting out to the people as well. Because of this, he was voted out of office as quickly as possible. Regardless of a president?s talent, if the economy takes a dive during his presidency, and the people are not getting their money, that president will undoubtedly be voted out of office.

For the majority of actions that take place in American society, money and the utter lust over it can be found at the root. People need money to survive and prosper, and as a result, many have become obsessed with it. Money has such immense power that it?s effects can be seen everywhere. Whether it is seen in the location a family chooses to live, or how history remembers a president, money can always be seen as a significant driving influence.